Water-meter-indicator drive



Feb. 5, 1929. 1,701,070

E. E. GAMON WATER METER INDICATOR DRIVE Filed June 22, 1926 I INVENTOR6x 30mm ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 5, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST E. GAMON, OF PRINCE BAY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO PHOENIX IVIETERCOM- PANY, OF PRINCE BAY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

WATER-METER-INDICATOR DRIVE.

Application filed June 22, 1926. Serial No. 117,890.

This invention relates to speed change gear hub, these elements providina substantialh. trains and more particularly to gear trainswater-tightbearing.

used in connection with the registering de- The outer end of the spindle18 has liXed 55 vices of water meters. to it a collar 13) having adriving arm 20, en-

llitherto, numerous troubles have been engageable with a rod 1 given agyratory mocountered in the operation of translat' 1g detion by theoscillal in of mechanism in a vices, between meter actuating elementsand water meter, not shown. their indicating devices, one being thedilli- The inner end of the spindle 18 jour- 60 eulty of procuringsmooth, even operation, nailed in a lug 22 formed integral with an dueto grit and dirt from the water seeping upright 23 extending within thecasing from through joints and bearings, clogging the the lower member11. gears and causing uneven operation. Fixed on the spindle 18 by itshub is a heli- It is one purpose or this invention to pro cal pinion 24,the lower side of which abuts 65 ride a device that is substantiallywater-tight against the upper sphere 16. thus preventing sediment- :tromcoming into The pinion 24 meshes with a mating gear contact with themechanism. 25 having a multiple pitch worm 26 formed It is a furtherfeature of this invention to .inte 'ral therewith. the gear and wormbeing provide a device whereby an easy running, revolubly mounted on aspindle 28 set at its 70 smooth reduction of speed is procured belowerend in a lug 29 integral *ith the casing 20 tween the meter drivespindle and indicator member 11, and at its upper end in a boss 30mechanism. unitary with the upper member 10.

Another object is in the provision of means Meshing with the multiplepitch worm 26 for controlling the end thrust of the spindles is a wormwheel 31 integral with a helical 7 and gears, tending to reduce frictionand propinion 32 mounted on an intermediate spin- 25 duce smooth actionand to use gears which die 33 journalled at its lower end in the lug aresell cleaning in operation. 22 and at its upper end in a similar lug;84; ex-

These and other important ObjGCtt-E, which tending in from the boss 30.will become apparent as the description pro- The pinion 32 engages ahelical gear inso gresses, are accomplished by the novel contegral witha helical pinion and is mount- 0 struetien, coi'i'ibinatioi'i andarrangement of ed on a spindle 37 set at its lower end in the parts,hereinafter described and illustrated ui n'ight .33 and at its upper endin a projectin the accompanying' drawing, forming a mainglug 38 lornualwith the upper casing memterial part of this disclosure. and. in whichher l0.

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view oil. The pinion 3G drives ahelical gear held 35 an embodiment of the invention. taken subby itscollar to a spindle ll) mounted at its stantially on line 11. of Figure2. lower end in the boss 3-11; to abut the spindle Figure 2 is atransverse sectional view its upper portion passing through a boss takenon line 2 2 of Figure 1. 41 having a concave seat in its lower extrem-90 Figure 3 is a .lon itudinal sectional view itv to accommodate a siihere 42 on the suina. z- 1 1 i or unitary worm and gear used in theapdie 4-0. The boss 4-1 1s screw threaded on its paratus. exterior toengage a cap 423, a packing 44: be-

Figure 4 is a smular view of a pinion and mg between them through whichthe spindle gear used in another part thereof. 40 passes. the spindlecarrying at its upper 95 The bearing consists of two parts 10 and.extending end a disc or spur gear 45 and hay-- 45 11, respectively upperand lower, connected ing on its upper face, near its periphery, atogether at a point just below the center pin 46 to actuate themechanism of the meter thereof by screws passing through extendingclock. flanges 12 and 13. In operation, the bar 21 moving in a circu-100 Formed centrally on the lower member 11 lar path revolves thespindle 18 and pinion is a hub 14:, having semi-circular concave 24,which in turn drives the gear 25. This seats at its ends to receivespheres 16 and 17 action. by way of the integral worm 26 and mounted ona spindle 18 journalled in the the driver Worm wheel 31 rotates thepinion 32 causing the gear 35 and its integral pinion 36 to revolve; thepinion 36 meshing with the gear 39 rotates the spindle 40 and hence thedisc 45, giving the pin 46 a circular movement so as to engage the clockmechanism and so register the amount of water that is passed through themeter.

Because of the upward thrust of the gear 39 on the ball 42 and thedownward thrust of the gear 24 on the ball 16,-the casing or bearing isobviously made water-tight. the balls or spheres, in conjunction withtheir seats, acting as valves.

It is also to be noted that all the teeth on the gears, p-inions andworm are cut at angles, so that should any foreign matter enter thetooth spaces, the same would be pressed out at the ends of the teethwhich are thus selfcleaning in effect, and due to their rolling andsliding motion very little friction is encountered, the stufling boXelements 43 and 45 providing such friction load as may be required toprevent too free action.

The thrust of the pinion 32 and gear 35 is equal in both directions, upand down and is therefore neutral; the same applying between the worm 26and the gear 31, and the spin dles move in opposite directions withentire freedom.

Although the foregoing is descriptive of the invention, it will beapparent that minor changes may be made in'it-s construction, withoutthe exercise of invention or conflict ing with the scope of the claimshereto appended.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a translator gear train for water meters, having a casing, anaxial spindle composed of upper, lower and intermediate sections, all ofsaid sections being journalled in said casing, the casing havingsemi-spherical seats, spherical elements on the upper and lower sectionsof said spindle to rest in said seats acting to receive end thrusttherefrom, a pair of shafts mounted in said casing on opposite sides ofsaid spindle parallel therewith, helical gears to transmit rotary motionfrom the lower section of said spindle to one of said shafts, helicalgear connections from the first named shaft to the intermediate sectionof said spindle, helical gear connections from the intermediate sectionto the oth er of said shafts, and helical gear connections from the lastnamed shaft to the upper section of said spindle, the angles of theteeth in all of said helical gear connections being such. as to presssaid spherical elements against their seats.

2. In a translator gear train for water meters having a casing, aplurality of spindles mounted in parallel in said casing, one of saidspindles being in three sections, and helical gears on said spindles tocommunicate motion therebetween, the teeth of the gears on the endsections of the sectional spindle being disposed at opposite anglesthereby tending to press the end sections oppositely.

3. In a translator gear train for water meters, a casing, a plurality ofparallel spindles in said casing, one of said spindles being composed ofsections, valve elements onthe end sections of said sectional spindlesto make water ti ht connections with the casing, and helical gears onsaid spindles to transmit motion therebetween, the gears on the endelements of the sectional spindle being of such angle as to thrust thevalve elements outwardly when in operation.

i. A water meter register drive, comprising in combination with a metermechanism having a casing, a gear train to translate rotary motion fromsaid meter outwardly through said casing, said train including asectional driving spindle, spherical valves on the end sections of saidspindle to close the passages through the casing, and angular teeth onthe end sections to press the valves into close relations with theirseats whereby leakage into said casing is avoided.

5. A water meter register driver, comprising in combination with a metermechanism and register, a casing between said meter and said register, acentral sectional spindle in said casing, the end sections being engagedrespectively with the meter mechanism and the registering device, a pairof lateral spindles disposed in planes parallel to the center spindle,an integrally combined gear and pinion revoluble on each of said lateralspindles, a pinion on the lower section of the central spindle, saidpinion meshing with the gear on one of the lateral spindles, a gear onthe upper section of the central spindie, a pinion meshing therewith androtatable on the other lateral spindle, a gear integrally combined withthe last named pinion, an integrally combined gear and pinion on the .intermediate section of the central spindle, the last named pinion meshingwith the last named gear and the gear on said intermediate sectionmeshing with the pinion on the first named lateral spindle, all of saidgears and pinions having helical teeth.

6. A water meter register driver, comprising in combination with a metermechanism and register, a water tight casing between said meter andregister, a pair of spindles fixed in said casing, a second spindlespaced parallel thereto, said second spindle being composed of threeindependent sections, a

' unitary pinion and gear revoluble on each of the first named spindles,valves on each of the end sections of the central spindle, said valvesacting co-operatively with seats in the casing ends through which thesections extend, means for driving the lower section, a helical pinionon the lower section to transmit motion to the unitary gear and pinion'on one of said pair of spindles, the angle of said helical spindlepressing the Valve against its seat, a unitary gear and pinion on theintermediate section driven by the pinion 0n the first named spindle andtransmitting motion to the gear and pinion on the second named spindle,and a gear on the other section of the central spindle, said gear havingits teeth at an angle to press the adjacent valve to its seat.

This specification. signed and witnessed this seventeenth day of April,1926.

ERNEST E. GAMON.

